It really makes me think about all the good times moving...haha no this week actually I was talking to Elder G about all the moving we did and how much I hated it. The subject was brought up because moving 2 times all the stuff in our house in less than 6 months really was a test for me! But yes our living conditions are much better! Right in time! This week was SOOO cold and rainy which is a combination that I am not used to! But It was definitely a test of our faithfulness! The work with the investigators froze literally and metaphorically haha. But this week we had the congregation attend the cooking class that Elder G has and they really enjoyed it! The members were really friendly and invited them to the meetings on Sunday which was very key and needed!
This week was a good time to focus on some less actives and members, with the cold and the rain hardly anyone accepted our visits. So we resorted to the members which some didnt recieve us but the ones we did we really had a good time to strenghthen and help them! Something that I have learned from President McM is that missionaries here in Paraguay have the purpose to look for people to teach and help them make covenants with the Lord. This includes helping familes prepare for the temple! He has taught us to look for the ordinances that people lack and help them prepare to recieve them! So we taught a few familes and gathered about 5 people that need to be baptized and we are excited to help them prepare themselves!
That was the good part! This week however really hit me, for the first time in my mission I felt useless! I encountered problems that I couldnt fix or control and I could only give the best counsel and wish them luck. The first happened when a sister passed out in her house due to some stress problems because her husband makes her do everything and it really stresses her out! So we visited her and her husband(who is not a member) and we taught them but the Husband is really adament and is extremely dedicated to his Catholic relgion. I know that he can change and this family can progress if he changed his attitude. It was just really sad because his wife really wants him to change but he was really hard.
The next problem we encountered is this sister that we have helped reactivate in the church is a single Mom and she doesn't have time to work because she has 3 kids one who is 9 and the other two under the age of 5, well because she doesn't work she doesn't have money to pay somebody to watch her kids. The only way she was able to buy food for her kids is her ex husband was paying child support but threatened to stop if she didnt let him live with her. But he was abusive and it got really ugly so that is why she left him in the first place. She will recieve help from the bishop in 8 days but she doesnt have any food right now to feed her kids. We counseled to her to continue and to trust in the Lord. She then looked at me and asked me what I would do? Wait 8 days and watch my kids starve or let the husband move in and pay for the food and break the law of chastity. Honestly I paused, but I testified and promised her that if she continued and trusted in the Lord, that he would provide a way. I felt confident in this promise but I felt terrible that I couldnt do anything in this moment for this family! Elder G and I are going to buy some stuff to make them a Lasagna but in this moment I felt so useless!
Sunday came and it was freezing! We had arranged to meet the congregation and accompany them to the church and they were really excited, but in the last minute and after 30 minutes of waiting for them they told us they had to clean their pig that they had slaughtered the day before! So it was a huge bummer! The good news for Sunday is that the less actives we taught during the week attended! Including a family that hadnt attended in 3 years! So Sunday proved to be decent for how cold it is!
This is my report this week! My goal of talking to 10 different people every day proved to be difficult and I didnt complete some of the days! But I am determined to complete it! Thank you guys for reading my email and I send a lot of love to all the Chubbs in Las Vegas and also to the Ruesch family who is going through a hard time! I love you all and I will email more next week :)
Love,
Elder Milton
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